After Yi Ku left, Phantom King was still not completely at ease. He took out his jade talisman again and concentrated. He then found out that another Phantom Race disciple was in the city. However, this person took a full two hours before he came as he was on duty.
Not only did this not arouse any of the trio's suspicions, but it also put them at ease. After all, these clansmen were from the Phantom Race' branch lineages only. If they immediately dropped everything and came when the Phantom King summoned them, that would be fishy.
This Phantom Race clansman's story more or less matched what Yi Ku had said. Although he didn't know the specifics, he was certain that something had happened to Jiang Yi.
It must be said that the mastermind that arranged these two scouts to spread fake news was indeed rather smart. This person had predicted that Phantom King would come and knew that if both scouts instantly said the same thing: that Jiang Yi was trapped in the Longtan Mystic Realm and asked Phantom King and company to go and save him; the three of them would definitely grow suspicious. Now that the two scouts were not speaking in complete unison and there being slight deviations in what they knew, that would actually make the three even more anxious and to lose their calm and wariness.
After twenty-odd hours, Yi Ku returned once more. As before, he didn't bring back anything very concrete, just that Jiang Yi was indeed in the Longtan Mystic Realm. However, he did have a comprehensive set of information about the Longtan Mystic Realm.
"Alright, you are dismissed. Do not come and find us without my summons."
Phantom King had now completely let down his guard. The three looked through the Longtan Mystic Realm's information and started to discuss tactics. Finally, the three decided to head to the Longtan Mystic Realm first and check out the situation personally.
The Longtan Mystic Realm was just outside the Heaven Primordial Domain; it was not that far away. With the Phantom King around, he could easily bring the two and enter the Longtan Mystic Realm stealthily. The Longtan Mystic Realm was actually rather dangerous. It was similar to the Netherworld River Mystic Realm; there were many Netherworld Race beings inside, and the human race and Netherworld Race constantly fought over this mystic realm. Every year, many soldiers from the Nine Yang Army would perish here.
The problem was… how were they going to head outside the spatial zone? The Heaven Primordial Domain wasn't like the Earth Domain; the spatial zone here was very stable. Even Phantom King had trouble tearing a hole in it, much less piercing through.
The three discussed for a while and finally decided to teleport to Crazed Supreme Thearch City. They were to rely on Phantom King's old connections to be teleported to outside the spatial zone and then head to the Longtan Mystic Realm. This way, although their journey would be delayed, it would be very safe and wouldn't expose the Phantom Race clansmen for giving information to their king. They would not be harmed.
The three never even thought of looking for the Nine Yang Army for help. The Phantom King used to be from the Crazed Supreme Thearch Army before while the Earth Emanations Sovereign was from the Yan Supreme Thearch Army; they both ostracized the Nine Yang Army. Another reason was pride. They wanted to rely on their own abilities to do things and not beg others.
Once the three left, Yi Ku and another Phantom Race clansman immediately breathed sighs of relief. Everything was going according to plan. The Phantom King had indeed headed to the Crazed Supreme Thearch City. If they had gone to look for the Nine Yang Army instead, their plan would have failed utterly.
Yi Ku and the other man entered a castle's secret room and met someone important to convey the good news. This person was completely covered within a black robe; his features could not be made out and the two didn't know his identity.
"Alright, your mission is accomplished!"
That black-robed man heard the duo's reports as he gestured and said, "Leave now. Someone will bring you two to hide for a while and hand you two your rewards. I promise you two: if the Phantom King dies, Yi Xiang would be the next Phantom King."
"Thank you, my Lord!"
Yi Ku knelt and kowtowed emotionally as he brought the other person and left speedily. After the two left, the black-robed man took off his cape and revealed a handsome face. It was actually Mu Heyu, Heavenly King Mu's grandson.
"Go to the Netherworld Realm to spend your divine roots!"
Mu Heyu smiled faintly; only dead men could keep secrets. It wasn't that these two Phantom Race clansmen weren't careful enough, but the temptation to them this time was very big. Yi Ku and his clansman had chosen to gamble with their lives; they had lost.
"Dao Nù, I have helped you to take care of things here; the rest is up to you guys. Jiang Yi, don't blame me for being cruel. Yun Bing can only be mine!" Mu Heyu sighed softly as he walked out of the secret room.
…
Now that Phantom King and company had decided to head to the Longtan Mystic Realm, the rest was easy.
The three successfully used Phantom King's old network to teleport outside the spatial zone. After all, this wasn't considered something major and Phantom King's old friends naturally were ready to render aid.
After the three appeared outside the spatial zone, they started to fly towards the Longtan Mystic Realm. Although they were very fast—based on the distance to the Longtan Mystic Realm, the journey would take at least a month. As the three took turns to lead and fly, this wasn't difficult for them at all.
Outside the spatial zone, there were patrols abound and the trio's movements were being monitored closely by the Dao Clan. Within the Longtan Mystic Realm, preparations were long underway. The powerful Dao Clan had joined hands with many great family clans to trap three King-Ranked martial artists; it was a piece of cake.
Just like this, the three old men were led by the nose and entered the Longtan Mystic Realm after one more month. They didn't manage to get anything done before they disappeared utterly.
The Heaven Domain didn't bother with the happenings of the Earth Domain at all; unless something calamitous happened in the Earth Domain, and they asked for help. Three Earth Domain Sovereigns had gone to the Heaven Domain and stealthily headed to the Longtan Mystic Realm; no one paid any attention to this. Even if the three died in there, not many would care.
As everything else was in place, the Dao Clan's spy started to try to lure Jiang Yi out.
However, what made Dao Nù and company irritated beyond measure was… Jiang Yi had activated double-pressure restrictions. Unless they f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y attacked the restrictions or found a Senior Commander to deactivate them, they could not contact Jiang Yi at all.
If they attacked f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y, the spy would be exposed immediately; Heavenly King Yun would be alerted. The Senior Commander responsible for the secret cultivation rooms was Heavenly King Yun's underling, and the Dao Clan spy didn't know what to do all of a sudden.
After forking out a huge price and activating so many men, the three old things had finally been lured to the Heaven Domain and were now trapped in the Longtan Mystic Realm. However, they could not reach Jiang Yi now, and the Dao Clan was at its wits end.
Jiang Yi was in seclusion—who knew how much longer would he cultivate? What if he cultivated for ten years… or tens of years before coming out of seclusion? All the clans involved couldn't possibly observe and wait for him for so long, right?
However, what other choice did they have?
If they alerted Heavenly King Yun and others, all their previous effort would be for naught. They could only secretly send a message to Jiang Yi and ask him to go and rescue the hostages himself. If not, what was the point of all the preparations that everyone had made?
They could only wait!
After all, the three old things were trapped in the Longtan Mystic Realm and wouldn't die in the short term. The Dao Clan clansmen had no intention of killing them. This time, they just wanted to use the three as bait to kill Jiang Yi and take his Fire Dragon Sword.
In the center of the Longtan Mystic Realm, Phantom King and company were all restrained by black, cold chains. Their heavenly powers were disabled, and they couldn't break free.
"Ah, ah, Wintry Sovereign, your daughter had guessed right after all. This is indeed a setup. The target is not us three, but Jiang Yi…"
Earth Emanations Sovereign cried out bitterly. If the three still could not figure things out now, they didn't deserve to be the Earth Emanations Domain's top-notch elders. The Wintry Sovereign laughed bitterly but didn't know what else to say.
Phantom King's face darkened as he said, "The Titled God Demon-Trapping Formation is a formation used to deal with Netherworld Kings; it had actually been used to restrain us three. These great family clans are shameless."
"They want that sword!"
Earth Emanations Sovereign's eyes grew dim as he said, "For that sword, they probably would even collude with the Netherworld Race, much less act shamelessly. Sigh, I hope that Jiang Yi doesn't come. If he dies, the human race would be utterly hopeless."